ejection seat

FH commented, after looking at over 20 vids of me trying to surf, that I never fall off the board like a normal person. He said "it looks like the surf board has an ejection seat".

He's surfed this brown board for over 7 years and never flown off of it like I do. I'm sure no one who knows me will be shocked by that.

barrel roll

Since I've been surfing with the big brown board I have to be careful when I fall off (which is 9 out of 10 times I try to stand up) because I don't want to get hit in the face with the board.

This ride, I started to pearl, but the wave was slow so I hung onto the board and tried to keep it from pearling. I later found out from FH that you can't save yourself when you're pearling. In any case, as I held onto the board it flipped over. I managed to get it upright by the time I stopped. The board did hit me in the arm above the elbow and I have a nice bruise from it.

It was worth the bruise!

how to miss a wave

Learning to read the ocean, and know when a surfable wave is coming, is a lot harder than I thought.

This vid is called where did the waves go?

This vid is called what happened to the wave????

pearled

When you weight the surf board too far forward you pearl, which means the surf board heads straight for the ocean floor. This video gives a good idea of what that experience is like.

and no vacation is complete without a trip to home depot

The water was a lot calmer the second day we were here than it was the last time in Maz though the first day the waves were pretty big and sounded like buildings falling down every time they crashed into the shore. I did go out the first day but after watching the good surfers eat shit I was surprised I got up on the board at all. After getting banged around for an hour I decided to rest. Good thing, because the next day (day this pic was taken) conditions were perfect.

Rare to get beginner waves at Olas Altas but we got them. Also, the water is unseasonably warm. We saw one jelly fish. There are a lot of sting rays on the ocean floor though so have to watch out for those. I stepped on two today, and though neither stung me one mouthed my foot. Good thing I haven't washed it lately. The ray spit it out. The waves should be getting bigger next week (3 - 6 foot waves as opposed to 1 - 3 foot waves). Hopefully I'll continue to do okay on the bigger waves.

One of the hazards of surfing (especially jumping on the board as opposed to sitting on the board) is banged up knees. This is after the first day of surfing. They've turned a nice purple color now.

The bike shop off Olas Altas. FH and I rented bikes for two hours to go to Home Depot. The hurricane down here did some damage to his house including the roof, causing a lot of water damage. I spent a day scrubbing mold off the walls and cleaning the floors. Fun to take a bike ride through traffic and tourists except that my bike chain kept falling off. Luckily FH knows how to fix anything.

Home Depot at Mazatlan. Same as the one in Denver but more mexican.

At the far left of this picture is FH's friend Willy, who takes care of shit while FH is back in the US. He is a member of a band and they were playing at the closing of this bar (owners spent too much time smoking pot and drinking to run the bar according to local gossip). The band was good but FH and I have been getting up at 630 every morning since the dudes come around 8 to work on the roof so around midnight we decided to head home.

second surf videos

This was my best ride into the beach (had to bail off the board before I hit the sand and ruined the board).

And this video shows why you should manage your surf leash (I managed to get tangled in mine more than once).

first maz surfing video

Huge thanks to FH for teaching me how to surf!!! He's the best instructor ever!!!

This is my last run I did yesterday while he was out in the water coaching me.

I'll be posting more videos shortly. I have some great wipe outs. And thanks again to my mom for the gopro!!!!

some pics from maz, since my video doesn't seem to want to load

Apparently I've overloaded the "internets" in Mex. Here are some pics from surfing today.

Is it beer 30 yet?

Making a fashion statement on the beach with my Ugg slippers, for which I've caught endless shit from the surfer boys. And I have the requisite coke and e-cig (breakfast of champions - kidding kids, don't fake smoke).

Took the brown board out today because the waves were pretty small and this thing is like a canoe. You don't even have to stand on the string, apparently, to surf. It weighs as much as I do. Glad it didn't hit me in the head.

"Now that I've gotten my ass kicked, time to go in"

Still shot, wipe out, from the gopro. You can't even see the board.

maz redux

I've been in Mazatlan since Sunday and we just got internet access today. Hooray!

Will be posting some funny surfing vids in a day or so I took courtesy of the gopro my mom bought me.